Wolver's Gold (The Wolvers)

by Rhoades, Jacqueline

  “I think he used it in the biblical sense,” McCall chuckled to Rachel and when she smiled back, he, too, looked relieved.

  “It was probably about a year and a half later when this young human woman showed up,” Rachel continued, “She said she heard we had need of a nurse and wanted to apply for the position.”

  “Wait a minute,” McCall interrupted, “Your Alpha didn’t bring her here?”

  “Oh, no, she just showed up. It happens every now and then. An outsider wants to join our community. They think they’ll like the lifestyle,” she laughed at the term. “The Alpha always turns them away, of course, but this time he didn’t and after a few days, we knew why. We were worried, at first, but she took to our way of life like she’d been born to it and we grew to love her. She was pretty wonderful, too.” Rachel shrugged. “Until about eighteen months ago.

  “She just withdrew? Did it finally get to her?”

  Rachel knew what McCall was asking. The Mate’s connection with the pack formed almost instantly the moment the Alpha mated her. The emotional bombardment could be so overwhelming, in fact, some Mates collapsed under the initial onslaught. Strong Mates learned to control it and filter out the emotional chaff of daily living that would be blown away on tomorrow's wind. They concentrated instead on the wheat; those feelings which could affect the individual for better or worse and would therefore affect the pack. Those who couldn’t control it, didn’t last long.

  “No, that wasn’t it. It was their son’s death that did it. Our Alpha had two sons by his first mate. Jeremy had already made his first shift before his mother passed. He was almost eighteen, going over the moon and running with the men when Lenora became the Mate. He wasn’t much younger than her, but Edmund was only nine and his mother had passed two years before. Lenora loved those boys, but Edmund was like her own. When he committed suicide, she was devastated.”

  McCall fumbled the dish he was drying and almost dropped it. “Holy shit” He muttered, “I didn’t make the connection.”

  “What connection?” Rachel asked, ignoring the profanity.

  “Someone mentioned something about it the other day. I didn’t realize it was the Alpha’s son.”

  “Who mentioned it?” Eustace asked and it didn’t sound like a friendly question.

  “Eustace! What’s the matter with you tonight?”

  Rachel knew the man held a grudge against Holt because of his lowered position in the pack. She didn’t blame him for it, but she also had no idea how or why the Alpha made the decision. That didn’t, however, account for his seeming belligerence toward McCall.

  “Nobody talks about that cub, not since the funeral. Nobody talks and nobody asks questions. Nobody,” he said with finality.

  Rachel reached out to touch his arm. “If there were any questions at all, don’t you think his father would have asked them?”

  “Not if he didn’t want to hear the answers.” Eustace looked over at McCall. “Now you want to tell me how you know about what happened to Edmund Hoffman?”

  “Answer me one more question and then I’ll answer yours,” McCall said, wiping his wet hands on a towel. “Why didn’t anyone else ask questions?”

  Eustace froze for a moment and then nodded at the bottle on the table. “You mind?” he asked Rachel.

  In answer, she went to the cupboard and took down three glasses. There wasn’t much left in the bottle, but when she would have poured less for herself, McCall’s hand reached out to tilt the bottle up.

  “Equal,” he said, and Eustace nodded.

  The omega took a sip of the amber liquid before he continued. “No one will ask questions because they don’t want to end up like me.”

  McCall raised his eyebrows over the rim as he took a sip from his own glass.

  “Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong. My family was one of the founders of this place and I mean this place before the gold was found up in those hills. Up until all this happened, I owned the livery and while I wasn’t no big bug…”

  “Top alpha,” Rachel interjected, not sure if McCall understood the term.

  Eustace kept going. “I did all right. I don’t walk real well, but I rode just fine. The old Alpha, Sterling’s father, didn’t hold my legs against me. Neither did Sterling. I didn’t look for a mate.” He glanced at his legs. “No sense passing this on, but some of the cubs used to stop by regular. Edmund was one of them. He liked horses and he liked me. We got to be friends. The cub talked to me and his wolf was yearning for that Cassie down to the Emporium, not that girl who left town. She was coming back, by the way. She was following in the Mate’s footsteps, wanted to be a… a…, a fancy titled nurse. I don’t rightly remember, but she was comin’ back. That cub didn’t hang himself. It wasn’t in him. I asked questions.”

  “Eustace, that’s not right. How could it be? The Alpha’s not like that. He wouldn’t let that happen.” Rachel always believed that Eustace betrayed the pack in some way, but was spared being outcast because of his condition. In all honesty, she couldn’t see that, either. She’d always known him to be a good, kind wolver, which was why she helped him where she could.

  Eustace glanced at Rachel, but looked McCall in the eye. “I swear it.”

  McCall didn’t blink or look away. “I believe you.”

  Eustace nodded, satisfied. “Now tell me. How do you know about what happened to the cub?”

  “I read it in some of Paul Porter’s notes. He had questions, too.”

  “Then let that be a lesson to you. Don’t ask about Edmund Hoffman, unless you’ve got a hankerin’ to spend eternity with Paul Porter.”

  “They didn’t kill you,” McCall reasoned.

  “They didn’t have to.” Eustace tapped his legs. “I don’t pose a threat.”

  “Neither did that cub.”

  “Yes, he did. He was young, but he was strong and getting stronger. He was smart. He had plans for this pack. And he was already wise enough to know he wasn’t ready for the job. Being the Alpha’s son gave him no claim to the position, but it gave him a leg up and folks liked him. You ain’t been here long enough to see there aren’t many who could fill the role when the time comes and those that can, will only make things worse.”

  “When the time comes,” Rachel murmured, as she placed the last of the dishes on the shelf. It was said more to herself than to the men, so she was surprised to find them both waiting for her to elaborate.

  She suddenly felt very uncomfortable. This was men’s talk, talk of things she knew nothing about. With the exception of his showing her the way the first time she went over the moon, she’d never heard her Alpha speak mind to mind. She’d never been to Court to listen to her Alpha’s judgments. Women weren’t welcome there and those who were called to appear before the Alpha, if only to bear witness, were shamed by it. Her understanding of how the pack was run came from what little her father chose to tell her or from the gossip Bertie and Eustace carried to her kitchen. She felt like a child learning the truth about Santa.

  She shrugged. This was what she wanted, wasn’t it? To be treated as an equal. So why did she wish Mr. McKinley was here to pat her hand and tell her not worry her dear little head about it?

  “It was something Mr. Coogan said about the Second.” She felt her face redden when she realized she’d have to put his comment into the proper context. Her eyes turned to Eustace. “I’d rather this didn’t get repeated.”

  Eustace looked both shocked and offended. "What kind of a feller do you think I am? I know when to hobble my lips. Folks here abouts depend on me for the news, but that don't mean I tell everything I know. And I sure as shootin’ wouldn't pass along any stories about you, Miss Rachel." He grinned. "Particularly not the one about a certain gentleman who was keeping company with her 'till ten minutes before her pa come home and stole a mighty powerful kiss right in the front hall."

  "I wasn’t watching the clock and she's a grown woman, Eustace, not a teenager," McCall told him with an exasper
ated sigh.

  "I know that, but she's still an angelica as far as her pa's concerned. An unmated girl," He automatically translated when he saw the question on McCall's face. "Folks'll turn a blind eye to a courtin' couple and some to Daisy's girls, but anything else'll cause talk and Miss Rachel don't need none of that. She's got enough on her plate as is."

  “Thank you, Eustace,” Rachel said with relief and picked up her untouched glass from the table. She’d heard her father call it liquid courage when he poured himself a glass before heading to the saloon. She took a sip.

  “Mr. Coogan said that if I chose the Second as my mate, he’d put me aside when the time comes. I didn’t think about what that meant. Or how reliable it was.”

  She added this last because he also talked about her money and she didn’t have any. Expenses and taxes were going up and her father often borrowed money from the till, money that had to be replaced. She hadn’t realized until tonight that he’d borrowed from others as well. If her two suitors were chasing her money, they were barking up the wrong tree.

  “Holt’s planning on being our next Alpha,” Eustace concluded, “That ain’t hard to figure. Who else is there strong enough to carry the mantle.”

  “I don’t understand any of this,” Rachel complained. “If Holt plans to take over, why doesn’t he challenge and if something underhanded is going on, shouldn’t we tell the Mayor?”

  “And how would you do that when you have to have to go through Holt to get to him and Holt is by his side for every appointment.”

  “Why is the birthrate so low?” McCall asked.

  Rachel straightened in surprise at the question that came, seemingly out of nowhere. “I-I think that’s a private matter, don’t you?” she said as a hint to the inappropriateness of the question.

  “In a well-run pack, there are no secrets.” McCall smiled at her, but then spoke to Eustace. “Come on, partner. You’re not fooling me. You don’t gossip. You trade information. In a town that exists behind closed doors, you’re probably the only one who knows what’s what.”

  “He ain’t sick,” Eustace stated flatly, “She ain’t neither, not that I’ve heard, but we don’t have the number of pups we used to.”

  The continuation of the pack was dependent upon the health and strength of the Alpha and Mate. It was one of the reasons Mates were so essential to the pack. Without them both, no mated pair could conceive. If either were weakened by age or disease, the birthrate would be affected, too.

  McCall’s question now made sense.

  “You thought the Second might be waiting for the Alpha to die,” she concluded.

  “That was one possibility,” McCall said, but he didn’t divulge what the others might be. He arose from the table, collected the glasses and put them in the sink. “I need to take care of a few things. Miss Kincaid, do you have tablecloths to hang?”

  Rachel laughed. “I do, but neither you nor Eustace need stay and help. I mean that. I enjoy my time alone. It gives me time to think.” And tonight, she had a lot to think about.

  He didn’t argue, but called the dog to attention with a look. “You stay until she’s finished. Guard.” The dog whined a bit and its front paws padded up and down like a petulant child. McCall didn’t think it was funny. “No. Guard.”

  “Just in case,” he said to Rachel to forestall the argument that was forming on her tongue. “Leave him in the back. I’ll pick him up later when I make my rounds. Eustace, keep your ear to the ground.”

  “Will do, but you be careful out there, McCall.”

  “I don’t get paid to be careful. I get paid to uphold the Law.”

  “You be careful, too, Miss Rachel,” Eustace told her when McCall was gone. “The sheriff’s going to be sticking his nose where it’s bound to get bit. I don’t want you to get bit, too.” He hesitated before speaking again. “I don’t want you to get your heart broken, neither.”

  “Thank you for your concern, Eustace, but I’m in no danger on either account, but I thought you liked Challenger McCall.”

  “Oh, I do. I think he’s a good man, a good wolver, but he’s different from us.” He lowered his voice to a whisper as if someone might overhear. “I helped haul his gear, see? He’s travelling too light and a couple of those canvas bags ain’t filled with clothes and such. I didn’t carry those. He wouldn’t let me, but I could tell there was some heft to ‘em. I don’t know why he came, but I don’t think he plans to stay.”

  Her wolf snarled at the idea of Mr. McCall leaving, but Rachel felt relief. It would be easier to mate Jack Coogan if she didn’t have to see Challenger McCall.

  For a life that contained few surprises or revelations, Rachel’s day had contained what seemed to be a lifetime’s worth and for once, her nightly chore would not be filled with thoughts of the hotel, but of all that she’d heard. As she pulled the last sheet from the tub, the dog gave a soft growl and she heard her father call her name.

  “I’m in the kitchen, Papa,” she called and whispered, “Hush. It’s only Papa.”

  Josephus Kincaid stumbled through the door, glared at the dog and glared at her. “Where is he?”

  “Where’s who, Papa?”

  “That, that sheriff.”

  Rachel felt her wolf begin to stir, angry at her father’s tone.

  “I don’t know where he is. He left some time ago.”

  “You will tell him that he is not welcome here. I forbid his presence in this house. His behavior was disgraceful and he has brought shame upon us.” He clutched his chest in a dramatic gesture. “And you, the daughter I’ve raised with the utmost care to behave so unseemly. That man will be the ruin of you. I won’t have it.”

  Rachel felt the dog beside her stiffen. Her wolf did the same with the addition of a curled lip and bared teeth.

  “Sheriff McCall has been nothing but a gentleman,” she said, feeling remarkably calm with the canine support.

  “A gentleman would not give cause to have a lady’s name bandied about the saloon. To drag you into that washerwoman’s mischief, to engage in fisticuffs in the street? I forbid you to see or speak with such a man. A gentleman would not do such things.”

  “Nor would a gentleman sell his daughter to pay his debts.”

  When her father hesitated a moment too long, Rachel knew Jack Coogan had spoken the truth.

  “How dare you?” her father blustered. “I only wanted to see you settled and cared for. I was only thinking of you.”

  “If you were only thinking of me, you wouldn’t have gambled and drank away what’s dearest to me.” She was surprised at how cold and even her voice sounded when inside, she felt such a fiery anger.

  “Should anything happen to me, the hotel will no longer belong to you unless you have a mate. I couldn’t bear to see my dearest daughter lose her home,” her father tried to reason.

  But Rachel had had enough of his reasoning and excuses. She’d had enough of sighing and holding her tongue and pretending to believe his lies.

  “This hasn’t been a home since Mama died. This is a boarding house, Papa, where we live in two storerooms in the back. I am not your dearest daughter. I am the workhorse that gives you the means to live like a Gentleman. You, on the other hand, could not sacrifice one evening at the gaming tables to give me a few hours of leisure.”

  “Rachel, dearest, you’re distraught…” He reached out his hand to her.

  “No, Papa, I am far beyond distraught. I am facing a life of misery and servitude which I will accede to because you have left me no choice. I will give Mr. Coogan my answer on New Year’s Day and not a moment before. On my Mating Day, you will sign this hotel over to my mate or there will be no mating. In the meantime, our rooms will become my rooms in preparation for my new life. Starting tonight, you may use Room Four. I’ll have your things moved tomorrow.”

  “Now, Rachel, I see no reason…”

  “Room Four, Papa, as it is the smallest of the lodgers’ rooms. It will be burden enough for my mate to give you
lodging without charge, if he permits you to stay at all.”

  Her father stepped forward angrily, “Rachel, I will not allow you…”

  The dog growled and her father stepped back.

  “Yes, you will, or I will remain a spinster and this hotel will fall to someone else. Should that happen, I will likely continue my job as manageress or work here as a maid. It makes little difference to me. You, however, will be thrown out and forced to beg for your Pittance from Mr. Slocum.” Rachel picked up her basket and turned her back on her father. With the dog at her heels, she called over her shoulder, “This is the pack you helped create and now we’ll both have to live in it.”

  While her voice remained steady and calm, her heart pounded in her chest. It was still pounding and her hands shook as she pegged the first cloth. She’d never spoken to her father in such a way before and wasn’t quite sure what had come over her tonight. But in spite of the physical upset and the strangeness of finally saying what she thought, she wasn’t sorry. It was one small burden lifted from her shoulders.

  At first, Rachel thought the dog was restless because of her upset over the confrontation with her father. Dogs, she’d heard, were sensitive to such things. Her wolf was uneasy as well, but for other reasons. There was nothing she could do for her wolf.

  “It’s all right,” she told the dog, or maybe she was telling herself. “I’m very good at handling things. I’ll handle this, too. You must admit, Mr. Coogan would be preferable to Mr. Holt and at least he has ideas to improve our circumstances.” Rachel paused and frowned. “On the other hand, if Mr. Holt becomes the Alpha, he would have to put me aside to find a proper Mate. That has its advantages, too.” Her shoulders slumped. “Perhaps not. The Alpha could live for a very long time.”

  The dog was not comforted. It paced and whined and kept looking from the gate to Rachel.

  “He’ll be back soon,” Rachel reassured it and it was then she felt the first drops of rain.

  Quickly stripping the cloths from the line, Rachel carried her basket back into the house. She had to call the dog twice before it would follow her back into the kitchen.